Group leader for Extrusion at SKZ discusses projects and developments

German injection moulding company SKZ is placing an emphasis on its extrusion division. The "Compounding and Extrusion" group is one of the longest running active research groups at SKZ. Group leader Hatice Malatyali sat down with Alexander Hefner to discuss recent developments, and what projects are in progress  from the extrusion team.

Alexander Hefner: Hatice, what fascinates you about the compounding and extrusion processes?

Hatice Malatyali: “The possibility to react very variably and flexibly to different topics. Especially in polymer processing, the modular design of the compounding lines makes this possible. In our projects, we work intensively on the process engineering process design of compounding and extrusion processes. Here we develop innovative and sometimes unconventional solutions for the many interesting inquiries and ideas of our customers. These are tested in our extensively equipped processing pilot plant. It is always exciting to see how diverse the compounding systems can be used, but also how they can be set up.”Hefner: What is your favourite project so far that you are working on in the group?

Malatyali: “One of the most interesting, completed projects was the process setup for extracting critical substances such as mineral oil from waste paper using supercritical CO2. Here, we look beyond plastics and developed a process in which the critical contents are dissolved out by the targeted addition of CO2 and removed from the waste paper by subsequent extraction. The results could be transferred back to plastics. From the knowledge gained for recovered paper, a process was also developed for the degassing of volatile components of recycled plastics. We now regularly use this process in plastics reprocessing operations.”Hefner: What else can we expect from you?

Malatyali: “As an application-oriented research institute, we base our research projects on current topics that concern industry. One of the focal points here is the recycling of plastics and the circular economy. For this purpose, our compounding plants as well as the recycling plant are involved in some projects. For example, together with Fraunhofer IWKS, we are currently researching the development of novel, bio-based infrared markers to increase the sorting quality of plastic waste. Thanks to our extrusion facilities, we are able to look not only at processing, but also directly at further processing into semi-finished products, such as films or pipes. In addition, our customers can also have a say in the topics via direct inquiries. Here, together with my team, I am pleased to develop individual solutions with the appropriate process setup for the respective inquiries.”